Hopefully you’ve been able to take advantage of some of the incredible daily deals we’ve offered over the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t yet, be sure to take advantage of our free download of Josh Kelley’s Radically Normal when you sign up to receive daily deals email alerts. Josh Kelley’s writing is incredible—you’ll love all of the stories and examples he uses while exploring the concept of joy in radical obedience to Christ in your normal, everyday life.

We’ve saved some of our favorite discounts for this final week of the sale. Today only, we’ve discounted David S. Dockery & Gregory Alan’s ebook, Shaping a Christian Worldview, to $0.99—that’s over 90% off!

In this ebook you’ll get a collection of essays that address the key issues facing the future of Christian higher education. With contributions from key players in the field, this ebook addresses the critical issues for Christian institutions of various traditions as the new century begins to leave its indelible mark on education.

Be sure to check back every day through November 27 to get the daily deal, take advantage of great savings, and fill your digital library with some of this year’s best content.

Hopefully you’ve been able to take advantage of some of the incredible daily deals we’ve offered over the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t yet, be sure to take advantage of our free download of Josh Kelley’s Radically Normal when you sign up to receive daily deals email alerts. Josh Kelley’s writing is incredible—you’ll love all […]

What separates Jesus from other great religious figures of history? Many faith traditions lay claim to famous religious leaders and founders, but Jesus is different. Jesus claimed to be more than a good teacher or leader. Jesus claimed to be God. Some deny this truth about Jesus’ teaching, but the New Testament leaves little room for doubt—Jesus claimed to be God and taught this truth to His followers:

He spoke as though he was God
While all Biblical prophets of God made statements on God’s behalf, they were careful to preface their proclamations with “This is what the LORD Almighty says,” or “This is what the LORD says,” but Jesus never used such a preface. Instead, Jesus always prefaced his statements with, “Verily, verily, I say to you,” (KJV) or “I tell you the truth,” (NASB). Prophets spoke for God, but Jesus consistently spoke as God.

He claimed the title used by God
Faithful Jews recognized the fact that God identified himself to Moses as the great “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). Yet Jesus (in referring to himself) told the Jewish religious leaders, “before Abraham was born, I AM.” They immediately recognized he was identifying himself as God and were so angered by this ‘blasphemy’ they “picked up stones to stone him.” (Jesus also identified himself as the great I AM in Mark 14:62, John 18:5-6, 8:24, and 8:28.)

He claimed the home of God
Every time Jesus was asked about where he came from, he told his listeners he came not from Bethlehem or Nazareth but from the same realm where God abides. Jesus claimed to come “from above.” He repeatedly said he was “not of this world” (John 8:23-24) and even told Pilate he was a king whose kingdom “is from another place” (John 18:36-37).

He claimed equality with God
Jesus said God’s angels were his angels and God’s kingdom was his kingdom (Matthew 13:41). Jesus even said the judgment typically understood to be reserved for God was actually Jesus’ judgment to make (Luke 12:8-9). Jesus told his followers when they saw him, they saw God; if they knew him, they knew God, and if they loved him, they were loving God (John 14:6-9 and John 14:23).

He saw no distinction between himself and God
Finally, Jesus simply and plainly told his followers there was no distinction between himself and God the Father. When talking about the manner in which saints are selected for salvation, Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:29). He did not mean they were ‘one’ in purpose or power, but they were one in identity. His hearers understood what he was saying and picked up stones again to stone him “for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33).

There are many important religious dates commemorating the significant role historic religious leaders have played, but Jesus was more than an important leader and founder. He was more than a great thinker and teacher—Jesus taught his followers he was God.

***

Want to learn more from J. Warner Wallace and other inspirational authors? Get the David C. Cook Bundle today for just $99.97. Don’t wait around, this bundle is only available through December 1!

Today’s guest post is by J. Warner Wallace a cold-case detective, a Christian case-maker, and the author of Cold-Case Christianity. You can get Cold-Case Christianity in the David C. Cook Bundle, which is filled with titles to help you grow spiritually, personally, and professionally. For a limited time, get 30 ebooks for just $99.97—that’s over $350 in savings! What separates […]

She plopped herself down in a chair, took off her shoe, pull off her sock, and propped her foot up on another chair. She believed prayer required direct contact. I gingerly put my hand on the top of the offending foot, but she said, “They’re under here,” and wrapped my fingers around her toes.

A couple of minutes later, as Mabel was walking down my driveway and I was washing my hands a second time, my wife asked me, “What was that about?!?”

“That’s nothing,” I said. “She once had Pastor Bruce pray for her hemorrhoids.”

The Real Problem

Looking back, the part of that story that makes me cringe is not the memory of Mabel’s sweaty foot, but the stench of my own attitude. Back in Bible college, we used to joke, “Ministry would be great . . . if it weren’t for the people.” I saw Mabel as one of those people—I ministered to her because I had to. Given a choice, I would’ve spent my time with the movers and shakers who matched my idea of spiritual greatness.

Because I’m writing this to Logos and Vyrso users, I suspect that many of you are pastors, students, and lay leaders and that you’ve heard that joke before. Even if you aren’t in formal ministry, God probably brings hurting people across your path on a regular basis, people that are a drain on your time and patience. In either case, think about what “if it weren’t for the people” communicates—“They are lucky to have me ministering to them.” Somehow that doesn’t feel very Christ-like, does it?

In truth, you and I are lucky to minister to them. Here’s how I now see it. I’m crazy about my two young daughters. They are the apple of my eye and I’m very protective of them. Were I ever to ever allow you to care for them, it would be very high praise indeed.

I finally realized that Mabel is one of God’s precious daughters. He had given me the high privilege of carrying for her and I treated it as a burden. I say that to my shame. My attitude reeked worse than any sweaty foot. I’m learning that until I see it as a privilege to lay hands on Mabel’s feet, I am not worthy to do so.

This hasn’t been an overnight change for me. I’m learning to come off my high horse and be less impressed with myself and my Biblical knowledge. I’m learning that God cares a lot more about his broken children than I did. He has also allowed me to be deeply hurt by the sort of people that used to impress me.

Becoming less impressed with myself (especially when I had to get a second job at Starbucks) is a key part of my story, which you can find in my book, Radically Normal. It’s free on Vyrso until November 27, so you may want to download it and read chapter 2, “It’s Okay to Be Normal.” In the meantime, I pray that God blesses you with many stinky feet to pray for and the perspective to know that it’s a privilege.

Get Radically Normal for free when you sign up for daily deal email alerts! Through November 27, you can get a new 24-hour deal each day. Once you enter your email address, you’ll receive your freebie in an email. Be the first to know what’s on sale—sign up for the daily deal!

Today’s guest post is by Vyrso’s author of the month, Josh Kelley. Josh has been a pastor for 15 years and is the author of Radically Normal: You Don’t Have to Live Crazy to Follow Jesus. Josh has graciously offered to give away Radically Normal for free when you sign up to receive Vyrso’s daily deal email alerts! With Vyrso’s daily deals, you […]

Today’s guest post is by “Mountain Man,” Tim Guraedy. He needs no introduction for the hardcore fans of the television show, “Duck Dynasty.” For those who don’t follow the show, Tim Guraedy is an air-conditioning repairman and radio host who is a neighbor to the Robertsons, a family that owns the famous duck call company, Duck Commander. You can get his ebook Mountain Man: Keepin’ a Slow Profile on Vyrso today.

In my book Mountain Man: Keepin’ a Slow Profile, I share the story when I shot an eight-point buck with a friend after climbing up into a tree with a broken arm. He scared the buck into an opening, and I shot the deer with my 12-gage single shot Ithaca shotgun.

Deer often try to get up and run away, so I went to reload my shotgun. But the barrel had gotten rusty and I couldn’t get the shell out. I grabbed my knife and tried to pry the shell out of the barrel, but just broke the tip off the end my knife.

So I snapped a limb off the tree and used it as a ramrod to push the shell out the other end. If I had oiled my gun, I would have easily been able to slide in another shell quickly. Thankfully my shot was on the money, or I would have lost my deer. I eventually got the shell out.

A good hunter knows you need to keep your guns oiled or they’re not going to perform properly. I think the Christian life is like that too. If you don’t take care of yourself and remain “well oiled,” you won’t function the way God designed you to and you’ll find yourself getting stuck far too often.

Going to church, reading the Word, hanging out with godly people, and being in the presence of the Holy Spirit is like oiling your gun. These things add to your faith and keep you in a better place.

It’s easy to get caught up in your business, running from one place to another and forgetting about what’s important. You set your Bible aside, you’re too tired to go to church, or find excuses that keep you from doing the right thing. Before you know it, you’re not yourself and things start going wrong.

You have to recognize what’s happening. Ask yourself, “Why am I getting stressed? Why is my job not going right?” Slow down and take a minute to think, “What’s going on? Have I been reading my Bible? Have I had one-on-one interaction with another godly person lately?”

It’s easy to get caught living by the flesh instead of the Holy Spirit. When things start going wrong, it can be a reminder to get oiled up with God’s word and his presence, or things are going to get jammed up.

When I’m out talking to people, I tell them not to let stuff pile up on top of their Bibles. I always make sure no dust is collecting on top of my Bible. The Word of God has been important to me in my life.

Try to find a little time in your day to interact with someone who will encourage you, and you can encourage them too. I find that meeting with two and three people during the week helps me stay oiled. If you’re at work, find a quiet place or go sit in your car and have a little time with the Lord. Don’t think that you have enough of the Holy Spirit and you’re good to go. It’s impossible to stay well-oiled with the Lord if the only time you want to interact with Him is once a week during church.

Part of keeping your heart well-oiled is interacting with the Lord each day. If you’re not doing that, you’re likely to be stressed. When you’re stressed, you tend to take longer on your work because you’re not thinking clearly and you’re trying to take on the task by yourself. When you interact with the Holy Spirit, he takes the stress off and you can get the job done right the first time.

I can’t live this life alone and neither can you. Just admit it. Life is full of things we can worry about, but Jesus told his followers, “Don’t worry about your life” (Matthew 6:25). He told us that our heavenly father takes care of the birds and the flowers, so he’ll take care of you. Seek first the kingdom of God today and you’ll stay well-oiled for all that God has for you each day.

Emm Hmmm!

To learn more about my new book, check out it on Vyrso today. Find out what’s going on with Mountain Man through my Facebook page, which also has information about my weekly radio show.

Today’s guest post is by “Mountain Man,” Tim Guraedy. He needs no introduction for the hardcore fans of the television show, “Duck Dynasty.” For those who don’t follow the show, Tim Guraedy is an air-conditioning repairman and radio host who is a neighbor to the Robertsons, a family that owns the famous duck call company, Duck Commander. […]

We handpicked the 30 ebooks in the brand-new David C. Cook bundle with the intention of building a bundle that would help you grow and seek God’s calling in your personal, professional, and spiritual life. We’ve included ebooks that will help you expand and revitalize your church or organization, titles by some of the top leadership mentors in the United States (John C. Maxwell and Ken Blanchard), and ebooks that will inspire you to connect with God each day. Here are my top five picks from the David C. Cook bundle:

Getting to No: How to Break a Stubborn Habit by Erwin Lutzer

Few spiritual concepts have fascinated and confused people more than understanding God’s calling for their life. Is it primarily about a job or a role? It is precise or general? Is a calling only reserved for those who work in professional ministry? The truth is actually amazingly profound: what we are supposed to do is what we most want to do. This is a guide for discovering God’s design and destiny for your life.

To My Sons by Bear Grylls

Mountain climber, world-record holder, and internationally-known television personality Bear Grylls knows a thing or two about adventure. The greatest adventure he’s experienced, though, is raising his three boys. In To My Sons, Grylls shares the quotes, Scripture verses, and spiritual wisdom he has learned through the literal ups and downs of an exciting life. Featuring cartoons from well-known sketch artist Charlie Mackesy, this book is a poignant primer for boys and men of all ages.

Seeing through the Fog by Edward G. Dobson

Seeing Through the Fog is about living well when you realize you can’t live forever. It is about having gratitude for each sunrise, birthday, and moment of knowing God more. It is about holding hope when circumstances hold pain. With stories and wisdom, Seeing Through the Fog will encourage readers in their own difficulties and give them hope for their future.

The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make by Hans Finzel

Whether you are leading a company, a ministry, a Girl Scout troop, or your family, The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make is a must-read for anyone who wants to lead others effectively. With additional and newly updated material, this leadership classic reveals the most common errors that leaders consistently make—regardless of training or age—and the way to stop these bad habits from undermining their positive talents and accomplishments.

Billy Graham by David Frost

With a chronology of Graham’s life, a preface from Frost, and a foreword from Graham’s grandson, Tullian Tchividjian, this weaving of stories, interviews, and reflections will inspire you to respond to God’s call with no reserve. For thirty years, Billy Graham and David Frost fascinated television audiences with their conversations about God, the Bible, and Graham’s decades-long ministry. Frost asked the questions that thousands of viewers wanted to ask. Graham answered them with authenticity and grace.

You’ll find 25 additional ebooks in this bundle from authors like Britt Merrick, Leonard Sweet, Stephen W. Smith, and John C. Maxwell. This bundle is only available through December 1—get the David C. Cook Bundle today!

We handpicked the 30 ebooks in the brand-new David C. Cook bundle with the intention of building a bundle that would help you grow and seek God’s calling in your personal, professional, and spiritual life. We’ve included ebooks that will help you expand and revitalize your church or organization, titles by some of the top leadership mentors in the United States (John C. Maxwell […]

Through December 1, you can enter to win two tickets to any Catalyst event of your choosing in 2015 and our David C. Cook bundle. Make sure to share this giveaway with your friends—every time you get a friend to click on your link to the giveaway you’ll gain more entries!

You can enter to win at vyrso.com/dailydeals (at the bottom of the page) or in the giveaway widget here:

Learn more about the prizes:

We’ve partnered with Catalyst to give away two tickets to any 2015 Catalyst event of your choosing. That means you could attend one of their leadership events in Atlanta, San Diego, Dallas, or any other Catalyst event around the United States in 2015. Catalyst is planning on having over nine events in 2015, so you’ll have plenty of options to choose from if you win. You could select a place close to home or even attend an event on the other side of the country!

The winner will also receive our 30-volume David C. Cook bundle for free! This is a brand-new, exclusive bundle from Vyrso and David C. Cook with titles from John C. Maxwell, David Frost, Glenn Packiam, Britt Merrick, Don Cousins, Ken Blanchard, and many others.

The David C. Cook bundle is also available to purchase on Vyrso.com. When you download this bundle you’ll save over $350 on these 30 ebooks! This bundle is only available until December 1.

Through December 1, you can enter to win two tickets to any Catalyst event of your choosing in 2015 and our David C. Cook bundle. Make sure to share this giveaway with your friends—every time you get a friend to click on your link to the giveaway you’ll gain more entries! You can enter to win at […]

Our bus arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday around noon on a breezy, sunny, altogether gorgeous autumn day and I was up for adventure. Scotland was the third country on the long-awaited UK tour Chuck and I had been enjoying in honor of our 33rd wedding anniversary, and we were thrilled to be presented with a few free afternoon hours before a scheduled Scottish castle dinner at 6 o’clock. (Yep, I said castle! Woohoo!)

Chuck wanted to hit the sack for a catch-up nap after seven days of non-stop activity with our tour bus companions, but I was keen on exploring the ancient city. After all, our Scottish guide had said our hotel was only “a brisk walk” from bustling downtown Edinburgh.

I didn’t want to waste a single minute. So after a brief check in, I tossed my things into the hotel room and without more than a “See ya, honey!” I set off in the general direction in which the hotel clerk pointed.

Ah, the wonder of it all! I walked many miles, enjoying the sights and sounds of the enchanting, romantic place, marveling at the intriguing architecture, lovely Scottish accents, the cozy little coffee shop where J. K. Rowling painstakingly birthed the Harry Potter series, and the charming, heart-warming statue of Greyfriar’s Bobby, the loyal little dog from the 1800s who’d sat on the grave of his beloved master in Greyfriar’s Abbey cemetery every single day for 14 years until his own death.

The congregation of Greyfriar’s fed Bobby and tried to lure him to shelter during the frigid winters, but he’d steadfastly refused to leave his master’s side.

Up to that point in my self-made tour, I had been keeping careful tabs of where I was in relation to where I’d been. But I had been so deep in thought about dear Bobby, I’d turned a corner or two unknowingly.

Uh oh. Where was I? It was then I realized that I’d left my cell phone back at the hotel. I had come away completely unprepared: no phone, no hotel name or address (we’d had a last minute hotel substitution which I hadn’t written down), and a lousy sense of direction. The emergency number for our tour guide (whose first name was all I knew) was safe in Chuck’s phone back at the hotel, which he’d turned off because of killer overseas roaming charges.

I didn’t know what to do. I was embarrassed at my air-headedness. I couldn’t even ask a policeman for help; I didn’t know where I was staying or whom to look for.

So I just kept walking. Walking and praying that at any moment I’d see something familiar that would give me a clue which direction to go. I hoofed it for nearly three hours, alone and lost in a bustling city, growing more frantic by the moment. I knew if I didn’t find my way soon, I’d be kissing my dreamy castle dinner farewell. It seemed as though I was walking in gigantic circles. Sure enough, by the third time I encountered wee Bobby’s statue, I knew I was in trouble.

As I stood there staring at Bobby, internally wailing to God in desperation and about to collapse to the curb in tears, I heard a woman’s voice call out on the crowded street, “Hat girl! Oh, hat girl!”

Me? Could she mean me?

I touched the brim of my tweed newsman’s cap and turned to find the smiling faces of a couple from our tour group who just happened to be passing by. With a map. And the name of our hotel.

In the midst of thousands of tourists traipsing the busy streets of the sprawling city, they’d somehow spotted me. They didn’t know my name, but recognized me because of the hats I’d worn every day on the bus.

Despite my fatigue and blistered feet, I had to laugh. My heavenly Papa had used my hat fetish—a weird personal habit of mine which he knew as well as he knows all your silly personal quirks—to bail me out of a disaster of my own making. And it happened right in front of the statue of Bobby, a tribute to faithfulness.

Luck? Nah. Coincidence? No way.

My Savior might as well have written across the sky with a giant black Sharpie, “I love you even when you botch it up, dear child. You are precious to me, quirks and all. Just like the extraordinary loyalty displayed by little Bobby here, I will always be faithful to you, even beyond death.”

This guest post has been adapted from Too Loved to be Lost, the latest release in Coty’s “Take On Life” series. You can get it on Vyrso today for just $7.49!

Today’s guest post is by Debora M. Coty a popular speaker, humorist, and award-winning author of over 130 articles and 14 books, including Too Blessed to be Stressed and Too Loved to be Lost. Coty can be found online at www.DeboraCoty.com. Our bus arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday around noon on a breezy, sunny, altogether […]

Today’s guest post is by John Turnipseed, the vice president of the Center for Fathering, Urban Ventures, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also the author of Bloodline, his autobiography of going from a lost and frightened little boy to a gang leader, drug dealer and pimp, and finally to one of the nation’s most respected pioneers of community restoration. You can get Bloodline for just $2.99—today only—as a part of our daily deals promotion.

Earlier this year, President Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color. I was invited by Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges to be part of this initiative for our city.

The current alarm in the African American community—which again centers on school failure, black male achievement and economic survival—has raised its eerie, ugly tragic sound again.

This will last for about two years and then disappear again after the money is disbursed. The children and conditions will be blamed for the failure because the cavalry came and did all it could, until another time when someone again rings the alarm of injustice and doom.

The best of the cavalry, the most connected ones with the most credentials, and the most charming presenters will be the commissioned army assigned to fight the good fight to yield the sword of salvation, to rescue the young men of lost hope and promise. To once again free the slaves of a failed system, and to rescue the poor, unfortunate children of a failed race.

The current situation needs an old approach to solve this old problem. The problem is the breakdown of the core family in the African American community. This breakdown was at the root of my problems, as I share in my book Bloodline.

If you send a broken child to school, a broken child will return home. If you ask a broken community to raise a child, a broken child will be conceived out of this broken unholy alliance. If you ask a broken culture to solve the problem, a stronger broken community and culture will be produced.

But there is hope. God would not be so cruel as to desert his children. There was a blueprint left for us to find our way home and to mend the shattered lives of the children and community that are seemingly lost.

I say let’s do something different, but not foreign to us—something that has been stored in the creases of our hearts and the folds of our minds.

I am talking about getting back to the values that brought us to our greatest heights. I am talking about getting back to family for real. I am talking about going to get our children and teach them character, reading, and writing skills. I am talking about black businesses in our communities again and supporting them by buying from them. I am talking about directing the drug dealer to leave now, as his services are no longer needed. Yes, I am talking about upholding the beliefs and values of the God that has sustained us.

I am in my own city putting the call out for black men to come home and to stop waiting for the world to push us to the solutions that we already have. All we are missing is the will and the unity to move in one direction and to have restoration and revitalization of our family the common goal.

It is time to draw upon our spiritual roots and sit at our rightful place as parents, leaders, and decision makers in America. The schools can continue to be schools, but we will send unbroken children to them. The school system was not set up to be a parent—that is our commission. When black men recognize the sheer velocity of our voice and power used in a moral and cultural standard, the world will be begging for our inclusion and not begging for a solution to us.

This is a problem for all people with a moral compass to help with, but the ultimate responsibility lies on the shoulders of the capable African American men that must lead the charge.

We must reclaim our faith, family, and pride in being the great lineage that we are and get back on track so that our legacy will not fail our children. God makes us capable. He is just waiting for us to answer the call

Let’s get it done.

You can get Bloodline for just $2.99, today only. Hurry, the price will only last until 11:59 p.m. (PST).

Today’s guest post is by John Turnipseed, the vice president of the Center for Fathering, Urban Ventures, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also the author of Bloodline, his autobiography of going from a lost and frightened little boy to a gang leader, drug dealer and pimp, and finally to one of the nation’s most respected pioneers of community restoration. […]

Today’s guest post is by John Eckhardt, author of numerous ebooks on Vyrso about prayer, blessing, and spiritual warfare. You can get his latest ebook, Prayers that Activate Blessings, on Vyrso today!

The subject of blessing and prosperity has become very controversial among those in the church. We want to be blessed and live the abundant life Christ died to give us, yet we don’t want to approach God as if he is a lottery or a slot machine—if you put in the right amount of prayer, praise, worship, faith, and good works, out comes your blessing. But for some, that is all they see God as, and they get beside themselves when he doesn’t come through for them the way they wanted him to.

Blessing and prosperity are more than money. According to Strong’s Complete Concordance of the Bible, one Hebrew word for prosperity is shalom. We often associate the word shalom with peace, but the peace that Christ went to war for on the cross is a complete, whole kind of peace.

Shalom is “completeness, soundness, welfare, and peace.” It represents completeness in number and safety and soundness in your physical body. Shalom also covers relationships with God and with people. God’s thoughts concerning your peace and prosperity are much higher than you could imagine.

It is his desire to bless and prosper you, to give you his grace, favor, and protection. Favor means “grace,” “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness,” and “good will, benefit, bounty, reward.” If you look up the Hebrew and Greek definitions of prosperity, many of these words carry over into favor as well.

Favor is goodwill. This is God’s kindness and benevolence given to those who love him. Favor will release great blessings, including prosperity, health, opportunity, and advancement. The Bible records numerous examples of God’s favor upon his people causing them to experience many breakthroughs. Favor is God’s loving-kindness. Joseph experienced God’s favor and went from prison to palace. God will do the same for you. He can change your circumstances in one day no matter where you are in life. This is when the favor of God is on your life.

Job was another man who was blessed and who operated under the full favor and blessing of God. In Job 10:12 he confessed that his life and the favor he had were gifts from God: “Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.” Life and favor are gifts of God. We don’t need luck. We need blessing. We need favor. We need the blessing of God. God desires to release new favor on your life. When you have God’s favor and blessing, there is nothing in life that can hold you down. When you begin to walk in the favor and blessing of the Lord, others will recognize it. The favor and blessing of God on your life is one of the most powerful things that can be released to you.

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you,” (emphasis added). Protection was also added to Job. Job 29:17 says, “I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.” When the evil plans of the enemy set out to destroy Job, he had weapons to fight back; then he claimed the exponential spoils of the victory.

God says, “You don’t need money. You need My favor.” You need his shalom—the full measure of peace—to operate in your life. This is your gift from him if you are his child, if you are in covenant with him. God blesses his people and rescues them. Just as he did with the Israelites, God loved you and chose you in spite of who you are and what you have done. You are elected by God. You were chosen before the foundation of the world. He chose you. It wasn’t because of anything you’ve done. That is his favor!

God is ready to release new favor, blessing, prosperity, protection, and peace over you. It is his desire to give you good things. Now get ready to receive them.

Today’s guest post is by John Eckhardt, author of numerous ebooks on Vyrso about prayer, blessing, and spiritual warfare. You can get his latest ebook, Prayers that Activate Blessings, on Vyrso today! The subject of blessing and prosperity has become very controversial among those in the church. We want to be blessed and live the abundant life […]

What do you do if your workplace environment is toxic, rife with conflict, and there isn’t an easy way out? Most of us have experienced an unhealthy atmosphere whether it’s been a sports team, in the workplace, or even within the church. Maybe you’ve experienced a boss that has been a bully or had a desk next to the office complainer. When we encounter these situations what do we, as Christians, do?

In Tim Chester’s ebook, Gospel-Centered Work: Becoming the Worker God Wants You to Be, he says, “Conflict is an opportunity to repent of selfish desires or demonstrate grace.” We often want to blame other people within our organizations as the instigators of the conflict or toxicity, but we rarely want to acknowledge our contribution to the situation. James 4:1 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” One of the quickest ways to infuse change in unhealthy workplaces is to first change ourselves, our actions, and our reactions. By repenting and extending grace we’ll be able to help change the culture we’re in.

If you find your response to toxic situations is less than admirable and want to understand more deeply what is happening in you, Tim Chester suggests you ask yourself these four questions:

1. When do you respond badly in the workplace? Is there a specific trigger or pattern?

2. How do you respond badly? This is the perfect opportunity for you to refine your own reactions and repent.

3. What happens when you act badly? James 3: 13 says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By His good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” Was someone else hurt by your snarky comment? Did you throw someone else under the bus to protect yourself?

4. Why do you act badly? What do you really want? Pray for the wisdom to identify the desires and humble yourself before God.

By humbling ourselves before God and understanding how and why we respond negatively, we can begin to change not only our hearts, but our actions and responses. We can then bring hope and change to toxic environments by modeling uplifting, level-headed, and godly behavior for others.

What do you do if your workplace environment is toxic, rife with conflict, and there isn’t an easy way out? Most of us have experienced an unhealthy atmosphere whether it’s been a sports team, in the workplace, or even within the church. Maybe you’ve experienced a boss that has been a bully or had a desk […]